Rants on Cycling and on Life:
Photos of people and bicycles that pass in front of my camera

8.02.2007

pretty standard morning...

today was a pretty standard morning...minus the walk of the dogthe boys were slow out of bed and so was Ilike a cowboy corralling cats lisa got us up and out of bedissuing orders... brush your teeth... get dressed... get some breakfast... what you are not out of bed yet?before getting dressed I stumbled downstairs for a coffee and a bananastretching my legs while waking up I felt the dreaded onset of a leg cramphad a good ride yesterday after workwent pretty hard until things got socialran into mike of the itakebigdumps blogwhich downgraded my pace from fast to quick and socialmike turned off for his MacArthur Blvd ride which left me chatting with a guy on a fresh new Surly Cross Check that was built up nicely for commuting.... fenders rockI went fast and slowed as I felt he was living in my shadowwould rather slow and chat than try to shake the shadow there had already been over an hour of big ring hammeringso slowing down for thirty or so minutes of healthy paced spinning worked out finethis harder than normal post work ride left my body somewhat depletedthe banana was well deserved in the am and maybe a bit latethe boys were dressedI was running lateeach of the boys got a granola bar as they went out the front doorninetendo ds was a barrier to getting the boys moving lisa took brutus with her and the boysI left out the back with the bike letting lisa walk the dog so I could arrive at work on timeout the back gate and into the alleyas I threw my leg over my Specialized cross bike I made a mental check of my gearhelmet... backpack... camera... and correct shoesI hate when I jump on a bike with TIME pedals when I am wearing my cleats with Shimano SPDsyesterday I left out with the wrong shoeshad I not looped back for the right shoes... the post work ride would not have happened out the alley dodging the arriving workerswork is being done on a number of neighbor's housesadditions... back decks... garages I am out of the alley before they are blocking the alleythen through the streets of Mount Pleasantit is a short commute into workI would be stronger if my commuter were longerI would be more late if my commute were longerwith the camera slung around my neck I scan the streets for interesting subjectsall sorts of men and women on bicycles headed somewhere to start their daydc is not Copenhagen but... dc has the potential to be a operable city by bicycle nothing captures my eyeno need to capture a photographlots of low end bicycleslots of bicycles from a different eratoo many department style bicycles under immigrants to count many bicycles look like something that you would pick up from a garage sale while others are clearly from a box storeit is humbling that a short commute like this can be done on a bicycle that costs the same as my cycling shoes without the cleatsyet I still commute on my race ready cross bike in my peacock gear a pretty girl comes up the hill the opposite direction on a mary poppins bikeI do not bother to chase her down with the cameraa bohemian man comes up the opposite direction on a mountain bike with a trail-a-bike minus the child passengerall sorts of commuters make pace with me on my expensive cross bike on their many decade old bicyclesmany of these bicycles from an era prior to the mountain bike... prior to the hybrid... from a time when there were just bikes and ten speed meant drop bars and a five speed freewheel in the backno issues with the car trafficone car slows to let me sneak into the lane in front of them as I make a rolling left on redthey make a faceI gesture an empty thanksI slow in an effort to thank them but alert them to the fact that they do not need to stop for meas I was going to sift inthen I realize that it is too difficult a conversation to have between a cyclist and a car driver to have this early in the morningjust be thankful that this person does not want to run over cycliststhere are not enough drivers like thismost drivers are out seeking the high score for running down pedestrians and cyclistsalways scoring bonus points for blue haired ladies and women with strollersthe camera is dormant around my neck until a block from my officea mr. bean like character comes bombing down the street on a singles speed beach cruiserno helmet... large headphonesworking the bike in such a way that he risks breaking a sweatI chase him downI snap a few shotswe have a friendly exchange while on the movewho knows if I got the shot I turn back and roll into the back door at work with my bicycleat work in time to suit up and be at my desk in time to be on timea few things for the morninga few words as I finish a second cup of coffee

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